Affordances for Learning in a Non-linear Narrative Medium

The World Wide Web has become a widely available platform for learning with hypermedia. However, WWW hypermedia is often limited in both guidance and navigation support. To improve hypermedia in these aspects, we propose a spatial hypermedia browser for educational purposes. A prototype browser, named HyperMap, has been designed to integrate guided explorative browsing with external control over a learnerís navigation. The flexible control by authors over navigation allows the integration of traditional courseware elements into hypermedia. We explain how the direct manipulation authoring environment in HyperMap simplifies the construction of a curriculum in spatial hypermedia. Object libraries and scripting of adaptive hypermedia objects help a HyperMap author to be productive. We include recent follow-up field-tests at NTU that confirmed the effectiveness of learning with HyperMap spatial hypermedia. The theoretical prospects of further integration of hypermedia with rules for intelligent tutoring are outlined as well. Editors: Gerry Stahl (U. Colorado, USA). Reviewers: Margaret Bearman (U. Monash, AU), Michel Crampes (Parc Scientifique George Besse, FR), Jay Lemke (City U. New York, USA), Ilana Snyder (Monash U., AU), Collaborative Knowledge Building Environments Seminar (U. Colorado, USA). Interactive elements: System walkthrough and commentary of the MENO (Multimedia, Education and Narrative Organisation) system, as described in the article. Interactive demonstrations: The MENO (Multimedia, Education and Narrative Organisation) Project has further information about the research presented. A system walkthrough and commentary of the MENOsystem. A demonstration of the Galapogas CD-ROM evaluated will be added shortly.